View full sizeSean Work | The Flint JournalMott's Jacob Perry shoots from outside the three-point line as Alpena's Alexander Thomas tries to block during the game at Ballenger Field House in Flint, Mich. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.

FLINT, Michigan – A myriad of different
personalities decorate the men's basketball roster at Mott Community
College.

Freshman guard Jacob Perry is still distinct.

From his shabby dreadlocks to his thick southern
accent, Perry is hardly unnoticeable.

One of his favorite things to do on-court after
nailing a deep three-pointer is to let his shooting hand rest on the defenders
head and scream "May I?"

He's a silly guy.

"One time in a AAU game there was this dude getting
in me and guarding me up close while talking stuff so I had crossed him over
and shot a three in his face," Perry recalled. "He was all in my face so I put
my hand on his head and said 'May I?' and ever since that I've been doing it
and everybody here started doing it too."

This gesture drives MCC's head coach Steve Schmidt crazy on
the sidelines but the head coach quickly figured out that comical acts are in
Perry's nature.

At times, the 19-year-old simply can't help it.

"He brings a lot of energy and personality and he's
got his own style of how to talk and I see other students picking up on his
sayings," Schmidt said of Perry. "It was kind of a shaky start for him being
away from home with very limited resources, if any. But you would never know it
by talking to him away from the court."

Perry was raised in a single-parent household with
his mother and four sisters in Huntsville, Ala.

He grew up in the rough Council
Court Projects on the city's south side and honed his skills at the nearby Scruggs
Community Center.

"It was hard because I didn't have a father figure
and I never met my dad and there was nothing but trouble out there with
gang-related activities, gunshots and all that," Perry said. "I needed something
to keep me out of trouble so I just stayed at the gym every day."

He became such a regular at Scruggs that he often
packed a lunch and ate his food in the building.

At 15 years old, Perry claims
he was assisting his mother with bills through odd jobs, which made him feel like
the man of the house. He's never sold drugs but admits that it was so normal in
his surroundings that he was often tempted to participate in the activity.

"It was easy to get money because of the drugs and
people would try to get me to go that route but I couldn't take the easy way
out," said Perry. "Me and my friend would cut grass and do stuff like that so I
had to grow up on my own. I was grown at 15."

But he still had some growing up to do academically.
This is what stopped Perry from playing for a larger institution after he
graduated from Lee High School last year.

Eason is also an Alabama native who
worked out frequently with Perry back at home. The two are now like brothers who
aren't afraid to keep each other on the right path.

"We look out for each other," Eason said. "It's a
whole lot better knowing that you have someone like him that's close to me
coming up here to do the same thing that we love to do."

Perry changed Schmidt's mind on extending an offer after he still thanked
the longtime coach for his consideration even after he received the bad news
that his services wouldn't be needed at MCC.

He's now repaid Schmidt by becoming a key contributor to
the squad with his amazing work ethic.

Perry shoots 800-1,000 jumpers regularly in his
spare time and holds the team's highest three-point shooting percentage (34.1
percent) and is the group's fourth-best scorer.

He averages 9.4 points per
game.

"The one thing I will say about Jacob is that he
puts in more time on his game than any other player in our program," Schmidt
said. "You would never know he comes from a tough situation financially because
he just is always pretty upbeat and I respect that in a person."